Monday, October 31, 2011

Instead of scribbling down your thoughts on a piece of scratch paper and having to bring it with you, you can now have your notes always with you as long as you have access to the web. Evernote can capture and save your notes, a webpage, photos or a screenshot; index anything you’ve captured or saved; and allows you to search by keyword, title or tag. It also offers creative ways to use their service.

Reading on the web can sometimes be challenging. Text blocks are broken up, advertisements are flashing relentlessly, type can be tiny. What is a person to do to make reading on a web page more pleasant? Enter Readability, a nifty utility that removes the clutter around what you're reading. Readability works with most major modern browsers and has been tested on many news sites and blogs. It isn't 100% effective, but works surprisingly well.

So you've signed up for Twitter and now the tweets are coming in fast and furious, people are mentioning you, you're getting direct messages, people are retweeting you, and maybe you even decided to have multiple accounts, a personal one and one professionally or for your business. Are you overwhelmed with how to follow it all? We have just the tool for you! TweetDeck is free software you can download that will connect you to your Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn accounts, all in one location. You can organize things from those accounts in different columns and you can even update your statuses in those accounts from TweetDeck.

Meet Diana Symons, the Social Sciences Librarian. She is the liaison librarian to the Asian Studies, Exercise Science and Sport Studies, Latino/Latin American Studies, Military Science, Peace Studies, Psychology, and Sociology departments.

We asked her a few questions, and this is what she shared!

1) What was your favorite food when you were a child? Waffles! I still love any type of breakfast food.

2) What is one of your favorite quotes? The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day. That is real freedom. –David Foster Wallace

3) What is your favorite form of exercise? Yoga and running. I also love to snowshoe and canoe (see me flexing my guns in the BWCA?), so CSB/SJU is a good fit for me.

4) If you could learn to do anything, what would it be? I’d like to be a better cook. My vegetarian diet frequently devolves into eating cereal for dinner – like I said, I love breakfast food, but still….

5) If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? Pay off my student loans! Then I’d have a party, and buy some plane tickets to exotic and remote destinations. And after that, I’d be responsible and start investing and donating to charities.

6) If you could be any fictional character, who would you choose? Pippi Longstocking. Clemens Juvenile Collection PZ7 .L6585 P56.

7) What do you want to be when you grow up? A brave and strong and resilient and caring and thoughtful woman.

8) When was the last time you were nervous? Probably my last library instruction session – I still get a little nervous and over-prepare any time I have to speak in public.

9) At what age did you become an adult? Um, I’m pushing 30 and I’m still waiting.

Friday, October 28, 2011

E-books are coming in from every direction this year. It sure is an exciting time to be a reader! Project MUSE, long known as a platform for scholarly journals, makes its move into the e-book world with their new beta platform.

Gale World Scholar: Latin America & the Caribbean serves academic institutions with Latin American and Caribbean Studies Departments or undergraduate and graduate courses across multiple disciplines. Independent researchers, corporate businesses, public library patrons and upper level high school students interested in regional studies will also find Gale World Scholar: Latin America & the Caribbean an appealing and beneficial resource.

This multidisciplinary resource will include a comprehensive range of content for the region, providing research across the humanities, both for current Latin America and the Caribbean and as a historical perspective back through the colonial period.

*A combination of contemporary and historical documents designed to reveal a true depiction of the nature, integrity and culture of Latin America. *Documents in multiple languages *Historical and contemporary maps

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Did you know you can renew your books online? Go to Your Borrowing Record (see steps below)or watch this easy tutorial to renew items you have checked out like your books, DVD's and items loaned from other libraries (Interlibrary Loan)*.

* Materials borrowed from other libraries need to be renewed prior to the due date to ensure ample time for the borrowing institution to respond to the request. Not all renewal requests are extended, so you need to continue to check Your Borrowing Record to see if your request has been accepted.

Monday, October 24, 2011

The TripHorrible BossesBuck Transformers: Dark of the Moon LimitlessGreen LanternBones: The Complete Sixth SeasonIn Treatment: The Complete Third SeasonChuck: The Complete Fourth Season Sword of HonourGarrow's Law: Series OneGarrow's Law: Series 2 The Goonies The Last Starfighter

Clemens Library:

Beautiful BoyCircoThe Princess of MontpensierScre4mSubmarineZookeeperThe Undefeated: Daughter, Wife, Mother, WarriorThor The Tree of Life Family Values: An American TragedyOrgasm Inc. The Strange Science of Female Pleasure Sugar Cane Alley

Meet Sarah Gewirtz, the Information Literacy Librarian. She is the liaison librarian to the Education and Political Science departments. We asked her a few questions, and this is what she shared!

1) What was your favorite food when you were a child?Kraft macaroni and cheese and frozen fish sticks. While I still like macaroni and cheese, my taste buds have matured and they only prefer homemade now.

2) What chore do you absolutely hate doing?Pretty much all of them but cleaning the bathroom and taking care of the kitty litter are probably the top two.

3) What is your favorite form of exercise?When I had time I enjoyed jogging...I'm sorta still doing that by chasing my son around!

4) If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?I do not know. I know there have been times I've said, "I wish I could that" but couldn't tell you what "that" is.

5) If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do?Get a lawyer. Then pay off bills. Then a vacation for all my family.

6) What do you want to be when you grow up?I hope after making my millions as a librarians (ha!), that I could open a bakery on the west coast (Washington or Oregon State).

7) What would you name the autobiography of your life?"My Life is a Aaron Spelling Soap Opera". I'm pretty sure I could relate some aspect of my life to one of his many evening soap operas.

8) What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever done? What was the last experience that made you a stronger person?Everything that has been hard for me has made me a stronger person. Moving, by myself, to South Carolina (and then Minnesota); working full-time while attending graduate school full-time; being a single parent are all examples of things that have been hard yet made me a stronger person.

9) When was the last time you were nervous?At a recent conference - I had to present and while I was prepared it still makes me nervous.

10) At what age did you become an adult?I don't think that will ever happen.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

The library is running a trial to EBSCO's Index to Printed Music. This resource is used to find individual pieces of music printed in standard scholarly editions, with over 425,000 index records of individual music works.

The library is running a trial (through November 17th) to Oxford's University Press Scholarship Online, an e-book publishing platform featuring primarily books from Oxford, but also including a few additional publishers.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

The library does! Are you on Twitter? If you are a Twitter user, please follow the Alcuin and Clemens libraries. This tweet feed will feature news/events at the libraries and links to new quality resources in the library and online.

The Libraries now have a Kindle eBook reader available for checkout. So if you are wondering whether this would be a cool way to read your favorite novel, stop at the Clemens Circulation Desk to check it out.

Available titles on the Kindle eBook:• Stiltsville: A Novel by Daniel, Susanna• Because I Love Her by Richesin, Andrea N.• At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bryson, Bill• Pride and Prejudice by Austen, Jane• The Art of War by Sunzi• Dracula by Stoker, Bram• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Carroll, Lewis• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan• Every Word (a game)• Kindle User's Guide

If you want to request a title be added to the Kindle, fill out our Book Request Form.

Monday, October 10, 2011

This app allows you to quickly and easily pull up Bloom's Taxonomy on your phone or other app viewing device. You are able to view action verbs and applicable learning outcomes associated with Bloom's Taxonomy. This app is recommended for faculty members and Education majors.

Monday, October 03, 2011

The Library is dedicated to helping the students of the College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University to become lifelong learners. Alcuin and Clemens Library would like to recognize faculty members who have notably contributed to promoting information literacy within the current academic year with an annual Information Literacy Faculty Award. Any member of the College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University faculty is eligible. Nominations will be accepted from self-nominators, other faculty members, librarians, and students.

The winner of the award will receive:• Award recipient's name noted in a book, purchased on their behalf for inclusion in the Library collection• An individual plaque of recognition• $100 towards research expenses• Award recipient announced at the Academic Affairs Awards and Recognition Ceremony• Recognition on the Library’s blog and in the Library’s departmental newsletters

Le Beau Serge Castle: The Complete Third Season Law Abiding CitizenConan O'Brien Can't StopCameraman: The Life & Work of Jack CardiffHow I Met Your Mother: Season SixCSI: Crime Scene Investigation - The Eleventh SeasonRebirth

AP Images contains over 3 million news photographs from the 1840's through today, with 3,000 photos added daily. All content from AP Images may be downloaded and used for educational purposes. A User Guide is available.

A California highway parolman stands guard over a group of African Americans outside a looted store in the Watts area of Los Angeles Aug. 13, 1965 where rioters ran amok last night for the second successive night. The six days of violence left 34 dead and resulted in $40 million of property damage.(AP Photo)